Posts Tagged ‘melbourne trees’

The City of Melbourne has released the first draft Urban Forest Strategy for community consultation. It responds to the large changes that are currently affecting our city’s tree population in the wake of climate change and urban growth. Within 20 years, Melbourne expects to lose 44 per cent of its trees. The draft Urban Forest Strategy seeks to manage this change and protect against future vulnerability and risk.

The City of Melbourne is holding an Art and Design Competition to celebrate the UN International Year of Forests and to raise awareness in the community about the importance of our Urban Forest. Winning entries will receive a prize and will be displayed at various high profile public locations across the City of Melbourne in the months of November and December. Learn more about our Urban Forest in the fact sheet.

We are seeking powerful visual statements about Melbourne’s Urban Forest. We’d like you to visually explore either of the following themes:

why trees are important to you

your vision for Melbourne’s future urban forest

We encourage everyone to think about our trees as they will not only benefit us, but the next generations of Melburnians to come. Trees play a key role in every person’s daily life, whether they know it or not. That’s why everyone should have a say in how our future Urban Forest should evolve. The competition is open to several age categories, including Open (over 18), Secondary School, Primary School, and Under 5s.

As Melbourne inevitably grows, central to its environmental and economic sustainability, is its capacity to have green spaces that can be the lungs of the city. Appropriate tree planting can serve to reduce the heat island effect, as climate change affects our city. The benefits of an enhanced urban forest and green infrastructure will be part of the solution to future changes, as we grow and old trees need replacement. Commentators will discuss how a future urban forest might evolve. Better places and spaces, healthy trees and water storage contribute to human health, wellbeing and economic sustainability.